


across the universe

by gracieli



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buckley-Diaz family, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Soft Eddie Diaz, Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley, the tiniest bit of hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25444663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracieli/pseuds/gracieli
Summary: In the week before Christopher's 9th birthday, Eddie spends the evening at Buck's and finds a handmade book in the crevice of the couch - Christopher's Journey Through Space: The Cosmic Adventures of the First Kid AstronautorBuck spends months writing a book for Christopher's birthday just to feel embarrassed about it and Eddie is hopelessly in love with his best friend.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 386





	across the universe

**Author's Note:**

> set sometime after season 3!

It’s close to 6 pm and Buck and Eddie are coming off of a 12 hour shift, which had been mercifully short and boring. Christopher is spending the night at a friend’s sleepover party, prompting Buck to invite Eddie over so that he wasn’t alone and worrying about his son the whole evening. They had decided on picking up some Chinese food instead of having to cook, so they swung by their go-to restaurant close to the firehouse. The drive back to Buck’s took longer than they would like and they were both exhausted but they spent the time talking about the details for Christopher’s birthday party, which was coming up soon. Before they knew it, they pulled into the lot of Buck’s apartment. 

As soon as they get into the loft, they quickly heap the takeout food onto some plates before carrying them over to the living room. Buck briefly searches around the room for the remote before passing it to Eddie. 

“I’m gonna get changed real quick but find us something to watch. I’m cool with anything.”

Eddie agrees and Buck heads up the stairs. He settles into the couch and is about to start flipping through channels when he feels something digging into his thigh. 

Eddie pats around the couch before his hand makes contact with a hardcover book. He moves to set it on the table and get it out of his way when the bright cover catches his eye. 

_Christopher’s Journey Through Space:_

_The Cosmic Adventures of the First Kid Astronaut_

A drawing of Christopher sliding down the rings of Saturn takes up most of the cover and Eddie notices a small _Love, Buck_ written in the bottom corner. 

His curiosity definitely peaked, Eddie opens the book and holy shit, this is beyond adorable. He flips through the pages that weave a story of Christopher traveling through the entire solar system, accompanied with drawings of Christopher in a space suit, the colorful landscapes of the planets and moons, and friendly space creatures. Eddie didn’t even know Buck could write or draw and he’s so taken aback by it all. He can’t even imagine how much time Buck put into this. A certain warmth fills his chest at the thought of Buck hunched over his table, plotting Chris’ adventures and drawing those stupid cute aliens and _was this hand bound_? Jesus. 

He's so distracted that he doesn't even hear Buck clambering down the stairs but he glances up just as Buck walks back into the living room.

Buck stills when he recognizes what Eddie is holding and Eddie swears he can see the color rushing to his cheeks. They are both stuck for a moment before Eddie asks, "Buck, what is this?"

It's dumb because he knows what it is, but his mind is still catching up and he can't think of anything else to say. 

Buck obviously misinterprets his shock, however.

“It’s silly, I know. I spent a good few months on it before I realized how stupid it was - I mean, he’s turning nine, right? What kid his age is gonna want something like this? I should’ve just stuck to his wishlist but I get these _dumb_ ideas in my head and I-”

He’s rambling and Eddie needs him to stop. Normally he’d find it endearing how much Buck cares for Christopher and values his opinion, but he’s got it wrong this time. 

Eddie moves closer to Buck and reaches out, laying a firm hand on his shoulder. 

“Buck-” he interrupts, following Buck’s gaze until their eyes meet, “Christopher is going to love it.”

Buck searches Eddie’s face for any sign of deception and, finding none, loses a bit of the tension that had scrunched up the usually smooth features of his face. The embarrassment still lingers but he at least looks less guarded than he had a few moments ago. 

“You really think so?”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Yeah, Buck, I do. First off, I’m pretty sure Christopher would love anything you got for him. The kid idolizes you.”

Buck’s bright eyes shine with emotion and Eddie knows that Buck knows this, knows how much Christopher loves him, but it doesn’t stop Buck from beaming with barely constrained joy every time he’s reminded. Eddie knows that it sometimes baffles Buck, who doesn’t know what he did to deserve this child’s unconditional love. Eddie often feels the same but separately, they’ve both learned to stop asking questions and just allow themselves to accept the warmth of Christopher’s love. Even still, Buck never takes Chris’ affection for granted and cherishes every expression of it as if it’s precious and novel. It makes Eddie fall in love with his best friend that much more and _god_ , he is so gone on Buck. 

Buck’s still watching him with that stupid happy gaze, waiting for him to continue. 

Eddie smiles. “ _And_ , it’s a good book. I mean, I only flipped through it but you know it’s right up his alley.” 

Buck breaks out into a shy grin, one that reminds Eddie of how he had smiled all those years ago when they pulled the live grenade out of a man’s leg and all it took was _you’re a badass under pressure_ for Buck to melt and drop his guard around Eddie. Buck is generally a pretty happy person and has no qualms about expressing his joy so it’s not that his smiles are rare, but ever since that first day Eddie could never control the way the world seemed a bit brighter when Buck smiled, even before he understood what it meant. 

Eddie only becomes aware of how close they are when he recognizes that he’s able to see Buck’s eyelashes flutter _and god, they’re so long_ and oh, Buck’s saying something.

“Well, I guess you know him best. If he hates it, I’m blaming you.” 

Eddie rolls his eyes lightheartedly and grins at him. “Somehow I’m not too worried about that.” 

He squeezes Buck’s shoulder before he regretfully pulls away, already missing the feel of Buck’s warmth under his hand. He saunters back towards the couch and plops himself down. 

“Let’s get started, man. I don't know about you but I'm starving.” 

They allow themselves to fall back into the familiarity of food, beer, and TV and the book isn’t brought up again. 

The following weekend brings Christopher’s birthday party and it’s a huge affair with a bunch of kids running and screaming around the house, caught up in party games. 

When Buck arrived earlier to help him set up, Eddie noticed that in addition to the book, Buck ended up bringing a new Lego set which had been at the top of Chris’ wish list. Eddie can understand the feeling of _not enough_ , the feeling of needing to compensate for things he can’t even name, so he hadn’t said anything about it as he placed it on the table designated for presents.

The day passes and later on in the afternoon after the games were finished and the cake devoured, they transition into opening gifts. As Christopher excitedly works his way through the mountain of presents, Eddie can tell that Buck is becoming more and more nervous the closer Chris gets to the gifts Buck brought for him. His hand is shaking where it sits on the couch when Eddie grabs it and squeezes gently without giving it too much thought. Buck smiles at him gratefully and seems to relax a bit before returning his attention to Chris. 

Chris finally grabs the two presents Buck brought for him, both wrapped in Superman wrapping paper. He releases an excited shout when he opens the Lego set but when he unwraps the book he looks positively gleeful and amazed. Christopher is quick to cross the short distance to Buck and crash into his lap, wrapping his arms around Buck’s neck like a monkey. 

“This is so _cool_ , Buck. Thank you”

Buck hugs Christopher tightly, ignoring the way his eyes tear up. 

“I’m glad you like it, Chris. I love you.”

“Love you too, Bucky.”

Chris sloppily kisses Buck’s cheek before he climbs off his lap and opens the rest of his presents. Soon enough, all that’s left is a massive pile of wrapping paper and people slowly begin to make their way home. 

That is, except for Buck, who sticks around and helps Eddie begin to clean up the absolute disaster that's been left behind. Eddie and Christopher disappeared a bit ago to get Chris ready for bed, so Buck decides to start tackling the mess in the kitchen while they’re at it. He’s just finishing up the dishes when he sees Eddie walk in, looking fond and soft. 

“Hey, a certain someone is insisting that you read his new book to him. Apparently I don’t do the voices right.”

Buck snorts. “Well, if he insists. It wouldn’t be right to say no to the birthday boy.”

They both know he never would have said no regardless of whether or not it was his birthday. 

So that’s how Christopher ends up sandwiched between Buck and Eddie in his tiny bed that is definitely not meant for two grown adults and a child. He lays his head comfortably on Buck’s chest and looks up at Buck with amazement and curiosity as Buck takes them through Astronaut Chris’ journey through the solar system until Christopher eventually loses the fight against sleep. When Buck closes the book and places it on the nightstand, he glances at Eddie to find him staring back at him with a certain look that fills Buck with a sense of contentment that he’s not sure he’s ever felt before, not like this. He isn’t sure what’s next for them but he knows that he is finally where he belongs, with the two people he loves most. After years and years of searching, he’s finally found his place in the universe. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys liked it! 
> 
> i'm at @gracieli on tumblr if anyone wants to say hi


End file.
